Scottish Executive

Agriculture

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it supports establishing a link between the level of subsidy to, and the number of employees on, a farm.

Ross Finnie: As stated in A Forward Strategy for Scottish Agriculture , we are in favour of rewarding farmers according to the wide range of benefits they provide in economic, social and environmental terms. This would not rule out use of employment-related criteria, although the Executive has no plans at present to introduce or propose such criteria. Support arrangements under the current Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) are largely production-based but the Mid-term Review of the CAP, which is currently in its preliminary stages, offers an opportunity to consider payments to farmers for the provision of a wider range of benefits.

Courts

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive why it is reducing the Scottish Court Service’s budget by £2 million in 2005-06, as shown in the table in the justice section of Building a Better Scotland – Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys .

Mr Jim Wallace: Additional funds have been made available in 2004-05 to enable the Scottish Court Service to accommodate pressures in its capital programme while facilitating the introduction of new court technology and improve access to the court estate to a level which will allow compliance with the Disability Discrimination Act.

Enterprise

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish its response to the consultation by the Department of Trade and Industry on the General Agreement on Trade in Services proposals to open up higher education provision to greater competition.

Iain Gray: The regulation of international trade is a reserved matter. However, the consultation document issued by the Department of Trade and Industry was prepared with input from the Executive. The Executive will continue to be in regular contact during the period of the consultation with DTI and other UK Departments on trade issues and how these may impact on the Executive’s responsibilities including higher education. This will enable the Executive to have the opportunity to input to the proposed UK response which is due to be submitted by March 2003.

European Union

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which ministers and how many officials attended the European Union working party on substantive criminal law in Brussels on 29 and 30 July 2002, and what grade and from which departments these officials were.

Mr Jim Wallace: Negotiations within the European Union on issues of substantive criminal law are conducted by the UK Government, taking due account of the views of the devolved administrations. The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of EU-related issues, including discussions on substantive criminal law, and is represented as necessary at meetings in Brussels, whether at working groups of officials or at Councils at ministerial level.

European Union

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what research it has carried out, or has commissioned, into funding sources available to assist groups and organisations to participate actively in the European legislative process.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Executive has not to date undertaken or commissioned specific research in this area.

European Union

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what (a) grants and (b) training it offers groups and organisations to participate actively in the European legislative process.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Executive does not at present offer grants or training to groups or organisations to participate actively in the European legislative process.

External Affairs

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what agreements, understandings and declarations it has entered into with other national bodies and national and regional devolved assemblies since 1999; who the other signatories to any such documents are, and what the status is of each such document and, in particular, whether there are any penalties associated with non-compliance with any provision contained within any such document.

Mr Jim Wallace: Details of the agreements, understandings and declarations that the Executive has entered into with overseas national bodies and national and regional devolved assemblies are noted in the following table. In addition, the Executive has entered into a large number of agreements and understandings with UK Government Departments and other UK bodies.

  


Agreement 
  

Other Signatories 
  

Status 
  



Protocol of Co-operation with Catalonia, May 2002 
  

The Government of Catalonia 
  

Commitment to co-operate in a number of policy areas. No 
  penalty provisions. 
  



Common Declaration on EU Governance, May 2002 
  

The constitutional regions of Aquitaine, Emilia-Romagna, 
  Flanders, Hessen, Marche, Skane, Tuscany, Wales and Wallonia. 
  

Political declaration containing no obligations or penalty 
  provisions. 
  



Flanders Declaration, May 2001 
  

Bavaria, Catalonia, North Rhine-Westphalia, Salzburg, Wallonia 
  and Flanders 
  

Political declaration containing no obligations or penalty 
  provisions. 
  



Liege Resolution, November 2001 
  

50 regions with legislative power 
  

Political declaration containing no obligations or penalty 
  provisions. 
  



Memorandum of Understanding with the Roads and Traffic 
  Authority of New South Wales, Australia 
  

New South Wales, Australia 
  

Commitment to undertake joint developments to transport 
  management systems. There are no penalty provisions.

Fire Service

Mr Lloyd Quinan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether local authorities can be sued by individuals or companies for not providing adequate fire cover in the event of any industrial action by fire service personnel.

Mr Jim Wallace: In the event of industrial action by the Fire Brigades Union, it is our understanding that no claim would lie against the Fire Authority for an alleged breach of its statutory duty under the Fire Services Act 1947 to provide fire cover.

Flooding

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to assist the victims of the flooding in the east end of Glasgow.

Allan Wilson: The Executive has been in contact with the Department for Work and Pensions about the financial help it can give to people affected by the recent Glasgow floods. The Executive is in discussion with landlords and the Association of British Insurers to ensure that there are appropriate insurance policies available, and that these are properly promoted. The Executive is working to ensure that proper planning takes place to prevent such flooding emergencies where this can be achieved. Work is taking place with Glasgow City Council on wider flood risk issues.

Football

The following question was omitted from the Written Answer report of the 23 October 2002

Football

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it and the former Scottish Office gave to football in each year since 1997 and which organisations received any such funding.

Dr Elaine Murray: Lottery Funding

  The Lottery Sports Fund has provided over £17 million directly to football since 1997. This does not include awards made to multi sport applications totalling £23,730,297 from which football may benefit. Full details under the various programmes are provided in the following tables 1-6. Three hundred and twenty-two awards totalling £687,781 have also been made for football under the awards for All Scheme as shown in the following table 7.

  In addition to those programmes identified, football is one of the sports included in the TOP Programme and the School Sport Co-ordinator Programme and has also been identified as one of the core sports of the Scottish Institute of Sport. It is not possible to identify the precise figure for football from these activities.

  Exchequer Funding

  The Scottish Women’s Football Association received development grant aid from sportscotland of £255,000 over the years 1997-2001 broken down per year as shown in the following table 8.

  Sportscotland has also made 105 awards to 79 football related organisations totalling £221,517 through its Sportsmatch Programme since 1997. These are listed in the following table 9.

  As part of the Phase II re-development of Hampden Stadium and the restructuring package in 2000, sportscotland paid Queen’s Park Football Club Ltd £4,265,000 of lottery funds and the Scottish Office/Executive (through sportscotland) contributed £4.75 million of Exchequer funds.

  Finally, the Executive, via sportscotland, provided the Scottish Football Association (SFA) with £500,000 to help meet the costs of bidding for the 2008 European Championships.

  Lottery Funded Awards

  Table 1

  


Programme 
  

Number of Awards 
  

Total (£) 
  
 



Capital 
  

39 
  

7,580,699 
  

Table 4 
  



Sports Facilities 
  

19 
  

5,164,869 
  

Table 3* 
  



Awards for All 
  

322 
  

687,781 
  

Table 7 
  



TAP 
  

116 
  

352,012 
  

Table 6 
  



Junior Groups 
  

7 
  

271,011 
  

Table 2* 
  



Major Events 
  

2 
  

92,500 
  

Table 2* 
  



National Coach 
  

2 
  

345,386 
  

Table 2* 
  



Performance Coach 
  

4 
  

24,268 
  

Table 2* 
  



Safety at Sports Grounds 
  

7 
  

2,785,666 
  

Table 5* 
  


 

518 
  

17,304,193 
  
 



  Note:

  *It is not possible to give a breakdown by year without incurring disproportionate costs.

  Table 2

  


Category 
  

Recipient 
  

£ 
  



Junior Groups 
  

SFA 
  

271,011 
  



National Coach support 
  

SFA 
  

345,386 
  



Performance Coach Development 
  

SFA 
  

22,218 
  



Performance Coach Development 
  

Highland Council 
  

2,050 
  



Major Events 
  

SFA 
  

92,500 
  



  Table 3

  Sports Facilities: Awards made since 1 April 1997

  


Organisation 
  

Award Made (£) 
  
 



Fauldhouse Community Sports and Recreation 
  

145,234 
  
 



Elgin City Football Club 2000 Limited 
  

5,000 
  
 



Ibrox Community Trust 
  

121,000 
  
 



Carloway Football Club 
  

32,500 
  
 



Greenock Morton Football Club 
  

200,000 
  

Award withdrawn 
  



The Rangers Football Club PLC 
  

500,000 
  
 



Caledonian Football Club 
  

290,450 
  
 



Tayport Thistle Football Club 
  

16,742 
  
 



Arbroath Football Club 
  

176,343 
  
 



Heart of Midlothian plc 
  

1,000,000 
  
 



Cumnock Junior Boys Club 
  

25,000 
  
 



Zeneca Juveniles Football Club 
  

27,448 
  
 



Lochgelly United AFC 
  

127,515 
  
 



Inverurie Loco Works 
  

5,500 
  
 



Highland Football Academy Trust 
  

1,000,000 
  
 



Scottish Football Association 
  

1,200,000 
  
 



Girvan Boys Club 
  

27,000 
  
 



Portsoy and District Community Association 
  

163,137 
  
 



Annan Athletic Football Club 
  

102,000 
  
 



19 Awards 
  

5,164,869 
  
 



  Table 4

  Capital Awards made since 1 April 1997

  


Organisation 
  

Award Made
(£) 
  
 



Aberchirder and District Community Association 
  

44,482 
  
 



Angus Council 
  

107,091 
  
 



Back Football and Recreation Club 
  

100,000 
  
 



Badenoch and Strathspey Sports Council 
  

7,710 
  
 



Benarty Football Club 
  

10,000 
  
 



Bunessan Football Club 
  

2,250 
  

Award withdrawn 
  



Coldstream Football Club 
  

16,500 
  
 



Cruden Bay Community Association and Recreation Park 
  

61,649 
  
 



Culter Junior Football Club 
  

31,700 
  
 



Dumfries and Galloway Council 
  

33,500 
  
 



Dunbar Community Development Company 
  

988,627 
  
 



Dundee United Football Club Ltd. 
  

120,000 
  
 



Dundrennan Community Council 
  

7,346 
  
 



East Lothian Council 
  

400,000 
  
 



East Renfrewshire Council 
  

95,000 
  
 



Fife Council (2 awards) 
  

462,547 
  
 



Fossoway Leisure Action Group 
  

30,000 
  
 



Glasgow City Council Parks and Recreation Department 
  

1,071,293 
  
 



Huntly Sports Trust 
  

613,893 
  
 



Invercairn Boys Club 
  

17,800 
  
 



Kilmuir and Logie Easter Action and Development Gr 
  

33,150 
  
 



Langlands Park Recreation Association 
  

31,500 
  
 



Lochmaben A F C 
  

26,315 
  
 



Loganlea Miners Welfare Charitable Society 
  

27,000 
  
 



Motherwell Football and Athletic Club Ltd 
  

164,000 
  
 



Perth and Kinross Council (2 awards) 
  

195,943 
  
 



Selkirk Football Club 
  

128,929 
  
 



Shetland Recreational Trust 
  

250,000 
  
 



Shiskine Valley Trust 
  

15,450 
  
 



South Lanarkshire Council (2 awards) 
  

1,142,444 
  
 



South Lanarkshire Rural Communities Trust 
  

280,000 
  

Award withdrawn 
  



St Johnstone Football Club Limited 
  

113,880 
  
 



Stepford Road Sports Trust 
  

590,000 
  
 



Threave Rovers Football Club 
  

15,000 
  

Award withdrawn 
  



West Lothian Social Welfare Trust 
  

247,000 
  
 



Morar and Mallaig Games Field Association 
  

98,700 
  
 



Grand Total (39 Awards) 
  

7,580,699 
  
 



  Table 5

  Safety at Sports Grounds awards made since 1 April 1997

  


Organisation 
  

Award (£) 
  



Dunfermline Athletic Football Club 
  

1,000,000 
  



Alloa Athletic Football Club 
  

42,146 
  



Ross County Football Club 
  

100,000 
  



Dundee Football Club 
  

1,000,000 
  



St Mirren Football Club Ltd 
  

94,745 
  



Dumbarton Football Club Ltd 
  

248,775 
  



Hibernian Football Club Ltd 
  

300,000 
  



Total 
  

2,785,666 
  



  Table 6

  Talented Athlete Programme

  


Year 
  

No of Awards 
  

Value of Awards (£) 
  



1997-98 
  

11 
  

18,034 
  



1998-99 
  

37 
  

111,000 
  



1999-2000 
  

22 
  

66,000 
  



2000-01 
  

23 
  

79,630.50 
  



2001-02 
  

23 
  

77,347.50 
  



  Table 7

  Awards for All

  


Year 
  

No of Awards 
  

£ 
  



1997-98 
  

5 
  

16,372 
  



1998-99 
  

93 
  

169,364 
  



1999-00 
  

104 
  

184,770 
  



2000-01 
  

49 
  

126,005 
  



2001-02 
  

71 
  

191,270 
  



  Exchequer Funded Awards

  Table 8

  SWFA Development Grant Aid

  


Year 
  

£ 
  



1997 
  

27,500 
  



1998 
  

27,500 
  



1999 
  

68,000 
  



2000 
  

66,000 
  



2001 
  

66,000 
  



  Table 9

  Sportsmatch Awards

  


Year 
  

Total Awards Made
(£) 
  

Organising Body 
  

Amount
(£) 
  



1997-98 
  

63,450 
  

Aberdour Sporting Development Club 
  

1,500 
  



Calder BC 
  

500 
  



Carfin Amateur FC 
  

500 
  



Clackmannanshire Council 
  

5,000 
  



Clydebank BC 
  

1,000 
  



Dunfermline and West Fife Sports Council (4 awards) 
  

19,530 
  



Dunvegan FC 
  

500 
  



ELP Miners Welfare BC 
  

500 
  



Eskmill BC 
  

5,000 
  



Giffnock North Eastwood 
  

500 
  



Gleniffer Thistle BC 
  

500 
  



Hutchison Vale Club 
  

1,500 
  



Ibrox Community Trust 
  

5,000 
  



Kirkudbright Academy 
  

500 
  



Murieston Utd FC 
  

500 
  



Queens Park FC (2 awards) 
  

17,500 
  



Stewarton Annick Football Club (2 awards) 
  

1,000 
  



Tweedale Rovers AFC 
  

1,370 
  



Tynecastle BC 
  

500 
  



Yoker Athletic BC 
  

550 
  



1998-99 
  

82,533 
  

Aberdeenshire Council 
  

2,000 
  



ACC Inter AFC 
  

500 
  



Angus Council (6 awards) 
  

21,000 
  



Bankfoot AC FC 
  

2,000 
  



Clackmannanshire Sports Council 
  

1,000 
  



Claremont AFC 
  

1,000 
  



Coldstream FC 
  

600 
  



East Kilbride Girls FC 
  

1,000 
  



ELP Miners Welfare BC 
  

500 
  



Glasgow City Council 
  

10,000 
  



Gleniffer Thistle BC 
  

500 
  



Hawick Thistle FC 
  

1,000 
  



Leith Athletic FC 
  

1,000 
  



Musselburgh Grammar School (3 awards) 
  

1,793 
  



Queensferry Amateur FC 
  

1,140 
  



Ross County Youth Club (5 awards) 
  

35,000 
  



Scottish Womens Football Association 
  

2,000 
  



Stockbridge Primary School 
  

500 
  



1999-2000 
  

35,457 
  

Cavalry Park Sports Club 
  

500 
  



Coldstream FC 
  

600 
  



East Kilbride Girls FC 
  

1,500 
  



East Kilbride Ladies FC 
  

500 
  



Edinburgh City U18s FC 
  

600 
  



Fernieside BC 
  

2,200 
  



Giffnock North Youths U12 
  

500 
  



Girdle Toll BC U12s 
  

700 
  



Gleniffer Thistle BC 
  

500 
  



Hutchison Vale Club 
  

3,000 
  



Kilwinning Rangers Boys and Girls Club (2 awards) 
  

6,000 
  



Lenzie Youth Club 
  

500 
  



Livingston Womens FC 
  

500 
  



Musselburgh Windsors BC 
  

755 
  



Newbattle High School Football 
  

500 
  



North Lanarkshire Council 
  

4,500 
  



Peebles Rovers FC 
  

1,010 
  



Queensferry Thistle FC 
  

1,000 
  



Stenhousemuir Football Club 
  

6,383 
  



Strathkelvin Thistle FC 
  

2,209 
  



West Barns FC 
  

500 
  



Whitehill Welfare Ladies FC 
  

1,000 
  



2000-01 
  

40,077 
  

Alloa Albion BC 
  

500 
  



Annan Athletic FC 
  

1,000 
  



Antonine Athletic 
  

500 
  



Balmoral BC U9s 
  

500 
  



Cavalry Park Sports Club 
  

500 
  



Clackmannanshire Council 
  

500 
  



Coldstream Amateur FC 
  

500 
  



Cowie Colts 
  

800 
  



Cramond BC Colts 
  

500 
  



Falkirk Youth Development 
  

2,500 
  



Fife Council 
  

1,277 
  



Flora's soccer school 
  

500 
  



Giffnock North Youths U14 
  

1,000 
  



Glasgow City Council 
  

20,000 
  



Gleniffer Thistle BC (3 awards) 
  

1,500 
  



Greenock High School 
  

500 
  



Helmsdale United FC 
  

500 
  



Kilmaurs Glencairn BC 
  

500 
  



Kilwinning Rangers BC 
  

1,500 
  



North Merchiston BC 
  

500 
  



Royal High School FC 
  

500 
  



Salveson BC 
  

1,000 
  



St Convale Youth BC 
  

500 
  



West of Scotland Girls Football 
  

500 
  



West Park United BC U11 
  

2,000

Gaelic

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what bodies it funds in support of Gaelic arts.

Mike Watson: The Executive provides funding for Proiseact nan Ealan (the Gaelic Arts Agency) and An Comunn Gaidhealach, which is responsible for the Royal National Mod. The Scottish Arts Council also provides funding support for the Gaelic arts.

Gaelic

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what bodies it funds in support of Gaelic education.

Mike Watson: The Scottish Executive funds the following bodies in support of Gaelic education:

  Sabhal Mor Ostaig;

  Storlann;

  Comhairle nan Sgoiltean Araich (CNSA);

  Cli, and

  Comunn na Gaidhlig.

  In addition 21 local authorities in Scotland receive support from the Specific Grant Scheme.

Housing

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average age of local authority owned house is in each local authority area.

Ms Margaret Curran: The information requested is not held centrally.

  Information is available on the numbers of local authority owned dwellings, in each local authority area, that are within the following five age bands: (a) pre-1919, (b) 1919-44, (c) 1945-64, (d) 1965-82 and (e) post-1982.

  The latest information - the position as at 31 March 2002 - was published in table 17 of the Scottish Executive Quarterly Housing Trends Bulletin HSG/2002/3, which is available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 23303).

Justice

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement on the prison estates review by the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice on 5 September 2002, what assessment it has made of the impact of bail supervision services on the number of places required for remand prisoners.

Mr Jim Wallace: Bail supervision schemes are currently being set up by local authority criminal justice social work services with the funding provided by the Executive. As a result, they are available only to a restricted number of courts and it is therefore too early to conduct a detailed assessment of the effect this new disposal is having on the numbers of prisoners being sent for remand.

  This issue will however be addressed through on-going monitoring and evaluation.

Justice

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement on the prison estates review by the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice on 5 September 2002, whether it has made any assessment of the impact an increase in funding of bail supervision services would have on the number of remand prisoners.

Mr Jim Wallace: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-29259 today. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search . As indicated in the earlier reply, it is too early to discern to what extent increased funding of bail supervision schemes might impact on the numbers of prisoners being sent for remand.

Justice

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many and what value of compensation orders under section 249 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act were outstanding on 31 March (a) 1998, (b) 1999, (c) 2000, (d) 2001 and (e) 2002, broken down by sheriff court.

Mr Jim Wallace: Fines and, where they have been imposed, compensation orders are amalgamated in sheriff court fine accounts. The number and value of outstanding compensation orders included in these accounts cannot be separately identified in the available data. The total number and value outstanding of open sheriff court fine accounts is given in the answers to questions S1W-30470 today, and S1W-27637 on 19 September 2002 respectively.

Justice

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many sheriff court fines were outstanding on 31 March (a) 1998, (b) 1999, (c) 2000, (d) 2001 and (e) 2002, broken down by sheriff court.

Mr Jim Wallace: The information available is given in the following table. The figures shown relate to the total number of fine accounts open at each date, including those where fines are due to be paid by instalment or where time has been given to pay. They are not equivalent to the number of fines outstanding as where an accused is fined in respect of more than one charge in a complaint, then those fines (and any compensation orders which may have been additionally imposed) are recorded as one overall fine account.

  Number of Open Fine Accounts for Sheriff Court Fines at 31 March, 1998-2002, by Sheriff Court

  

 

1998 
  

1999 
  

2000 
  

2001 
  

2002 
  



All Courts 
  

42,766 
  

41,484 
  

38,674 
  

37,424 
  

38,838 
  



Aberdeen 
  

1,915 
  

2,162 
  

2,216 
  

1,785 
  

1,745 
  



Airdrie 
  

1,322 
  

1,362 
  

1,354 
  

1,328 
  

1,450 
  



Alloa 
  

353 
  

357 
  

344 
  

355 
  

317 
  



Ayr 
  

1,479 
  

1,138 
  

1,075 
  

1,117 
  

1,140 
  



Arbroath 
  

522 
  

540 
  

474 
  

490 
  

472 
  



Banff 
  

137 
  

151 
  

141 
  

180 
  

173 
  



Campbeltown 
  

210 
  

215 
  

166 
  

162 
  

129 
  



Cupar 
  

207 
  

195 
  

159 
  

209 
  

198 
  



Dingwall 
  

249 
  

275 
  

274 
  

198 
  

169 
  



Dornoch 
  

78 
  

85 
  

87 
  

66 
  

90 
  



Dumbarton 
  

1,197 
  

954 
  

1,007 
  

922 
  

905 
  



Dumfries 
  

913 
  

1,048 
  

886 
  

860 
  

756 
  



Dundee 
  

1,578 
  

1,473 
  

1,410 
  

1,473 
  

1,648 
  



Dunfermline 
  

1,267 
  

1,177 
  

1,117 
  

1,035 
  

1,112 
  



Dunoon 
  

240 
  

186 
  

156 
  

214 
  

205 
  



Duns 
  

106 
  

80 
  

89 
  

N/A 
  

97 
  



Edinburgh 
  

5,081 
  

5,039 
  

4,807 
  

4,859 
  

4,689 
  



Elgin 
  

556 
  

589 
  

551 
  

563 
  

575 
  



Falkirk 
  

1,323 
  

1,186 
  

1,360 
  

1,317 
  

1,458 
  



Forfar 
  

213 
  

223 
  

188 
  

207 
  

258 
  



Fort William 
  

201 
  

174 
  

124 
  

114 
  

129 
  



Glasgow 
  

5,876 
  

6,126 
  

5,579 
  

5,325 
  

5,664 
  



Greenock 
  

843 
  

716 
  

775 
  

810 
  

927 
  



Haddington 
  

366 
  

375 
  

390 
  

316 
  

362 
  



Hamilton 
  

3,267 
  

3,055 
  

3,201 
  

2,802 
  

2,559 
  



Inverness 
  

867 
  

758 
  

695 
  

683 
  

807 
  



Jedburgh 
  

198 
  

156 
  

179 
  

336 
  

336 
  



Kilmarnock 
  

1,774 
  

1,770 
  

1,384 
  

1,404 
  

1,710 
  



Kirkcaldy 
  

1,226 
  

1,309 
  

1,117 
  

1,132 
  

1,248 
  



Kirkcudbright 
  

254 
  

253 
  

233 
  

145 
  

142 
  



Kirkwall 
  

123 
  

141 
  

115 
  

122 
  

122 
  



Lanark 
  

641 
  

470 
  

469 
  

383 
  

367 
  



Lerwick 
  

275 
  

208 
  

159 
  

112 
  

110 
  



Linlithgow 
  

1,561 
  

1,535 
  

1,433 
  

1,445 
  

1,372 
  



Lochmaddy 
  

36 
  

23 
  

17 
  

30 
  

18 
  



Oban 
  

184 
  

178 
  

169 
  

139 
  

131 
  



Paisley 
  

2,254 
  

2,271 
  

1,857 
  

1,744 
  

1,768 
  



Peebles 
  

61 
  

57 
  

49 
  

50 
  

61 
  



Perth 
  

887 
  

798 
  

686 
  

737 
  

910 
  



Peterhead 
  

437 
  

354 
  

268 
  

271 
  

404 
  



Portree 
  

42 
  

39 
  

28 
  

34 
  

29 
  



Rothesay 
  

77 
  

52 
  

35 
  

63 
  

53 
  



Selkirk 
  

153 
  

180 
  

140 
  

167 
  

215 
  



Stirling 
  

764 
  

681 
  

530 
  

550 
  

620 
  



Stonehaven 
  

224 
  

228 
  

169 
  

151 
  

157 
  



Stornoway 
  

193 
  

123 
  

102 
  

114 
  

112 
  



Stranraer 
  

551 
  

528 
  

443 
  

466 
  

457 
  



Tain 
  

300 
  

337 
  

303 
  

289 
  

305 
  



Wick 
  

185 
  

154 
  

164 
  

150 
  

157

Justice

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many sheriff court fines are currently outstanding, broken down by sheriff court.

Mr Jim Wallace: The latest available information is given in the following table. The figures shown relate to the total number of fine accounts open at each date, including those where fines are due to be paid by instalment or where time has been given to pay. They are not equivalent to the number of fines outstanding as where an accused is fined in respect of more than one charge in a complaint, then those fines are recorded as one overall fine account.

  Number of Open Fine Accounts for Sheriff Court Fines at 9 August 2002, by Sheriff Court

  


All Courts 
  

40,149 
  

Hamilton 
  

2,630 
  



Aberdeen 
  

1,713 
  

Inverness 
  

761 
  



Airdrie 
  

1,517 
  

Jedburgh 
  

361 
  



Alloa 
  

389 
  

Kilmarnock 
  

1,760 
  



Ayr 
  

1,181 
  

Kirkcaldy 
  

1,329 
  



Arbroath 
  

498 
  

Kirkcudbright 
  

173 
  



Banff 
  

153 
  

Kirkwall 
  

116 
  



Campbeltown 
  

124 
  

Lanark 
  

367 
  



Cupar 
  

212 
  

Lerwick 
  

107 
  



Dingwall 
  

181 
  

Linlithgow 
  

1,514 
  



Dornoch 
  

76 
  

Lochmaddy 
  

22 
  



Dumbarton 
  

929 
  

Oban 
  

124 
  



Dumfries 
  

758 
  

Paisley 
  

1,865 
  



Dundee 
  

1,645 
  

Peebles 
  

78 
  



Dunfermline 
  

1,237 
  

Perth 
  

850 
  



Dunoon 
  

209 
  

Peterhead 
  

412 
  



Duns 
  

110 
  

Portree 
  

35 
  



Edinburgh 
  

4,665 
  

Rothesay 
  

71 
  



Elgin 
  

620 
  

Selkirk 
  

288 
  



Falkirk 
  

1,639 
  

Stirling 
  

662 
  



Forfar 
  

293 
  

Stonehaven 
  

135 
  



Fort william 
  

126 
  

Stornoway 
  

106 
  



Glasgow 
  

5,804 
  

Stranraer 
  

429 
  



Greenock 
  

961 
  

Tain 
  

289 
  



Haddington 
  

438 
  

Wick 
  

187

Justice

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it takes to ensure that curators ad litem appointed in court cases in respect of custody of, and access to, children following the break up of a marriage assess the suitability of each parent without regard to any assumptions about the relative suitability of men and women to be parents.

Mr Jim Wallace: A curator ad litem is appointed as an officer of the court to represent the interests of the child in the litigation. The court is responsible for the appointment of the curator and the supervision of his or her work. The Scottish Executive has no part to play in this. The court can also appoint a reporter to enquire into the circumstances of the family. This appointment is likewise subject to the supervision of the court. It is open to the parties involved in the case to challenge the accuracy or completeness of assessments made by a reporter, and the court will take this into consideration.

Justice

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-22091 by Mr Jim Wallace on 8 February 2002, whether it has assessed the effectiveness of nominating a judge specifically to oversee asbestos-related legal cases with a view to expediting their progress.

Mr Jim Wallace: Lord Mackay of Drumadoon was nominated to oversee the procedural progress of asbestos related actions in December 2001. As of 28 October 2002 procedural hearings have been held in 330 such actions. In 21% of these cases, the court has been notified that the action has settled in advance of a proof (hearing of evidence) without the need for further judicial intervention. Lord Mackay has been successful in focusing attention on the areas of dispute between the parties and in seeking ways of expediting progress within the scope of the Rules of the Court of Session, with the ultimate aim of parties reaching early settlement where this is possible.

  Lord Mackay will continue to hear further asbestos related cases by order. Proof diets are being allocated with particular reference and sensitivity to the nature of the pursuers illness.

Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Scotland) Regulations 2002

Mr Lloyd Quinan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any statutory interest and compensation arising out of late payment will be due to a member of the Faculty of Advocates by the client as the disclosed Principal or whether it will be due by the solicitor as the agent, under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Scotland) Regulations 2002 (SSI 2002/335).

Iain Gray: These regulations implement European Directive 2000/35/EC on combating late payment in commercial transactions. They are intended to make it clear, on the face of the regulations, that they apply to the arrangements whereby advocates are paid fees, whoever the obligation to pay fees falls upon.

  The regulations do not change the legal relationship between advocates, solicitors and clients. It will be for the courts to determine whether the directive, and consequently the regulations, apply in any particular case, but my understanding is that a debt for fees is due to an advocate by his or her client, and any interest on late payment would be due by the client. The Faculty of Advocates and the Law Society of Scotland also have an agreement that a solicitor who instructs an advocate has a responsibility to ensure, as far as reasonably practicable, payment of the advocate’s fees.

Police

Angus MacKay (Edinburgh South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) police officers and (b) civilian staff there were in each police force (i) on 1 April and (ii) on average in each year since 1996.

Mr Jim Wallace: Police and support staff strength figures are collected at 31 March, 30 June, 30 September and 31 December each year. The information is shown in the following tables.

  Police Officer Strength as at 31 March

  

 

1996 
  

1997 
  

1998 
  

1999 
  

2000 
  

2001 
  

2002 
  



Central Scotland 
  

657 
  

686 
  

703 
  

719 
  

721 
  

733 
  

719 
  



Dumfries and Galloway 
  

390 
  

412 
  

439 
  

437 
  

451 
  

478 
  

482 
  



Fife 
  

790 
  

831 
  

855 
  

846 
  

837 
  

852 
  

912 
  



Grampian 
  

1,172 
  

1,173 
  

1,193 
  

1,249 
  

1,215 
  

1,273 
  

1,258 
  



Lothian and Borders 
  

2,534 
  

2,691 
  

2,691 
  

2,615 
  

2,584 
  

2,670 
  

2,700 
  



Northern 
  

640 
  

649 
  

657 
  

660 
  

653 
  

668 
  

683 
  



Strathclyde 
  

7,216 
  

7,231 
  

7,299 
  

7,135 
  

7,101 
  

7,318 
  

7,327 
  



Tayside 
  

1,113 
  

1,116 
  

1,143 
  

1,149 
  

1,137 
  

1,157 
  

1,170 
  



Total 
  

14,512 
  

14,789 
  

14,980 
  

14,810 
  

14,699 
  

15,149 
  

15,251 
  



  Source: Quarterly Strength Returns (QSRs) from forces.

  Average Police Strength

  

 

1996-97 
  

1997-98 
  

1998-99 
  

1999-2000 
  

2000-01 
  

2001-02 
  



Central Scotland 
  

661 
  

690 
  

712 
  

714 
  

725 
  

719 
  



Dumfries and Galloway 
  

400 
  

430 
  

441 
  

454 
  

464 
  

476 
  



Fife 
  

816 
  

850 
  

847 
  

836 
  

847 
  

886 
  



Grampian 
  

1,167 
  

1,189 
  

1,226 
  

1,226 
  

1,243 
  

1,270 
  



Lothian and Borders 
  

2,618 
  

2,692 
  

2,636 
  

2,586 
  

2,646 
  

2,659 
  



Northern 
  

644 
  

649 
  

660 
  

658 
  

657 
  

677 
  



Strathclyde 
  

7,213 
  

7,326 
  

7,196 
  

7,096 
  

7,187 
  

7,299 
  



Tayside 
  

1,118 
  

1,133 
  

1,150 
  

1,141 
  

1,152 
  

1,163 
  



Total 
  

14,642 
  

14,959 
  

14,867 
  

14,711 
  

14,920 
  

15,148 
  



  Note:

  Calculated using information from QSRs.

  Support Staff Strength as at 31 March

  (Full-Time Equivalents)

  

 

1996 
  

1997 
  

1998 
  

1999 
  

2000 
  

2001 
  

2002 
  



Central Scotland 
  

188 
  

216 
  

225 
  

214 
  

218 
  

267 
  

285 
  



Dumfries and Galloway 
  

146 
  

160 
  

218 
  

206 
  

208 
  

240 
  

241 
  



Fife 
  

235 
  

243 
  

246 
  

264 
  

270 
  

299 
  

315 
  



Grampian 
  

439 
  

456 
  

482 
  

522 
  

503 
  

505 
  

589 
  



Lothian and Borders 
  

988 
  

1,026 
  

1,013 
  

1,074 
  

1,064 
  

1,025 
  

1,076 
  



Northern 
  

324 
  

322 
  

334 
  

341 
  

360 
  

349 
  

358 
  



Strathclyde 
  

1,704 
  

1,904 
  

1,947 
  

1,997 
  

2,051 
  

2,111 
  

2,142 
  



Tayside 
  

398 
  

430 
  

445 
  

461 
  

475 
  

495 
  

529 
  



Total 
  

4,431 
  

4,755 
  

4,957 
  

5,077 
  

5,145 
  

5,291 
  

5,535 
  



  Average Support Staff Strength

  

 

1996-97 
  

1997-98 
  

1998-99 
  

1999-2000 
  

2000-01 
  

2001-02 
  



Central Scotland 
  

191 
  

224 
  

216 
  

217 
  

241 
  

280 
  



Dumfries and Galloway 
  

151 
  

210 
  

207 
  

205 
  

225 
  

248 
  



Fife 
  

239 
  

245 
  

252 
  

262 
  

306 
  

309 
  



Grampian 
  

434 
  

475 
  

510 
  

517 
  

501 
  

552 
  



Lothian and Borders 
  

1,017 
  

1,065 
  

1,073 
  

1,090 
  

1,014 
  

1,048 
  



Northern 
  

322 
  

342 
  

344 
  

356 
  

354 
  

357 
  



Strathclyde 
  

1,831 
  

1,938 
  

1,980 
  

2,073 
  

2,098 
  

2,134 
  



Tayside 
  

408 
  

433 
  

456 
  

468 
  

501 
  

512 
  



Total 
  

4,593 
  

4,900 
  

5,025 
  

5,170 
  

5,215 
  

5,439 
  



  Note:

  Support Staff (FTE and on average) calculated using information from force QSRs.

Police

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many special constables there were in (a) Central Scotland Police and (b) Fife Constabulary in each of the last three years.

Mr Jim Wallace: The numbers requested are given in the following table.

  Number of Special Constables (Available for Duty)

  


Force 
  

September 2000 
  

September 2001 
  

September 2002 
  



Central Scotland Police 
  

53 
  

49 
  

69 
  



Fife Constabulary 
  

104 
  

99 
  

95 
  



  Source: Police forces.

Police

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when the Scottish Police Activity Analysis was completed; when it will respond to the findings of (a) the analysis and (b) any further work undertaken, and whether it will give details of any such further work.

Mr Jim Wallace: Results from an activity analysis carried out by the Scottish Police Service in spring 2001 were used by a working group (involving representatives from the Executive, COSLA and the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland) which has been reviewing the distribution of police GAE between forces. An account of the working group's recommendations, including the use of relevant information from the activity analysis, is due to be published later this year.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-26496 by Mr Jim Wallace on 22 July 2002, why the costs it incurs in paying non-domestic rates at HM Prison Kilmarnock were not stated in the answer to question S1W-24351 by Mr Jim Wallace on 22 April 2002.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The answer listed the obligations which are additional to those contained in the published contract. The obligation in respect of rates is stated in the contract.

Prison Service

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what treatments and programmes are available to offenders with a mental illness during their period of incarceration.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  Drug therapy, group and individual work is available, together with education, work and prisoner programmes as appropriate, as identified by an individual needs assessment.

Prison Service

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans are in place to evaluate prisoners considered eligible for the Retox Programme prior to release.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  All drug misusing prisoners are offered a comprehensive multi-disciplinary assessment while in custody, which includes planning for their release.

Prison Service

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to the Scottish Prison Service targets for standards of routine and psychiatric care as they apply to HM Prison and Young Offenders’ Institution Cornton Vale, what steps it has taken in regard to the targets of (a) routine cases referred to psychiatrists within four weeks in 100% of cases being only "partially achieved" and what percentage of cases this currently refers to and (b) emergency psychiatric cases being seen within 24 hours in 100% of cases being "not achieved" and what percentage of cases in this category have been seen by an emergency psychiatrist in 1999-2000, 2000-01, 2001-02 and 2002-03 to date.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The factual information requested is not available. Discussions are on-going with Forth Valley Primary Care NHS Trust about how appropriate psychiatric services might continue to be made available within Cornton Vale.

Prison Service

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement on the prison estates review by the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice on 5 September 2002, whether the proposed private-build, private-operate prison will have 700 prisoner places.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The new private-build private-operate prison will provide around 700 prisoner places, although the exact number of places has yet to be set.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement on the prison estates review by the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice on 5 September 2002, what criteria it will use to assess the (a) robustness, (b) credibility, (c) competitiveness and (d) value for money of a plan for a privately-built, publicly-operated prison.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-29267 on 11 October 2002. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement on the prison estates review by the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice on 5 September 2002, whether it will publish the (a) outline business case or (b) full business case for the private-build, private-operate prison once prepared.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-29272 on 11 October 2002. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement on the prison estates review by the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice on 5 September 2002 and the commitment by the minister to reflect on the possibility of a fixed-price prison construction contract ( Official Report , col.13390), when he expects to reach a conclusion on this matter.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  As with the procurement by the SPS of the latest two new houseblocks at Polmont and Edinburgh, the SPS intention will be to secure the best possible deal for taxpayers in acquiring a new prison by tapping into a competitive market. If a fixed-price contract was judged the best way of maximising value for money it would be taken; if not, it would not.

Prison Service

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what screening for communicable diseases, including hepatitis B and C and HIV, is provided in prisons.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  Screening for communicable diseases is provided at the request of prisoners. All prisoners are offered immunisation against hepatitis B on admission to custody. All prisoners known to be hepatitis C positive are offered immunisation against hepatitis A.

Prison Service

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive why none of the performance measures shown in schedule F of the contract for HM Prison Kilmarnock relate directly to compliance with Standards of Health Care for Prisoners .

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The contract for the building and operation of HM Prison Kilmarnock pre-dates the publication of The Standards of Health Care for Prisoners.

Prison Service

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many offences committed by prisoners in the last year have led to internal disciplinary action in HM Prison (a) Kilmarnock, (b) Perth, (c) Peterhead and (d) Barlinnie.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The following table gives details of the total number of offences committed by prisoners leading to internal disciplinary action in the establishments noted during the financial year 2001-02.

  


Barlinnie 
  

1,573 
  



Perth 
  

3,144 
  



Peterhead 
  

324 
  



Kilmarnock 
  

7,662

Prison Service

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-19366 by Mr Jim Wallace on 7 November 2001, how many (a) breaches of discipline there were and (b) punishments were awarded in 2001-02.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  This information can be found in Appendix 6 of the SPS Annual Report for 2001-02, which was published on the SPS website www.sps.gov.uk.

Schools

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its policy is on schools obtaining funding from the New Opportunities Fund PE and Sport in Schools; what steps it will take to ensure that all schools benefit from this fund, and what average funding it anticipates will be available for each school from the fund.

Dr Elaine Murray: The Scottish ministers set the policy directions under which the New Opportunities Fund (NOF) operates the PE and Sport Initiative in Scotland. This programme is now operational and is NOF's responsibility to administer based on guidance agreed with the Scottish Executive. Each local authority area has been given a provisional allocation and the local authority submits projects based on agreed local priorities.

Waste Management

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what grants or other funds are available to local authorities to encourage kerbside domestic recycling as a way of improving the recycling of paper and plastic and glass bottles.

Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive has identified over £230 million over the next three years in the Strategic Waste Fund for local authorities to implement Area Waste Plans as part of the National Waste Strategy. This will enable local authorities to implement kerbside recycling of paper, plastic, glass and other materials in line with the Area Waste Plans. A further £16 million is available this financial year.

Waste Management

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive which agencies are responsible for (a) (i) encouraging and (ii) regulating recycling and (b) minimising waste production.

Ross Finnie: The National Waste Strategy promotes a partnership approach to achieving sustainable waste management in Scotland. The Executive, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), local authorities, waste industry, community sector, enterprise agencies and the general public all have a key role to play in encouraging recycling and waste minimisation.

  The Executive has allocated over £230 million over the next three years for local authorities to implement Area Waste Plans as part of the National Waste Strategy. Local authorities are expected to use this funding to reduce waste disposed of to landfill and encourage more sustainable options such as reduction, reuse, recycling and composting.

  SEPA has responsibilities to regulate waste management activities including recycling and composting operations.

  The Scottish Executive's Energy Efficiency Office actively promotes to Scottish business, Envirowise; a UK government programme offering free, independent advice on practical ways to minimise waste and convert turnover into profit.

Waste Management

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what programmes it is implementing to encourage waste producers to take a more environmentally responsible approach to the disposal and re-use of waste.

Ross Finnie: The National Waste Strategy: Scotland provides a framework for moving towards sustainable waste management. The 11 draft Area Waste Plans, being developed as part of the strategy, outline the measures which will be taken to encourage waste reduction, reuse and recycling as well as responsible disposal of residual wastes.

  In addition, the Executive launched the second phase of the Do a Little, Change a Lot advertising campaign in September 2002 which focuses on waste issues. This campaign aims to encourage householders to reduce, reuse and recycle their waste.

  The Packaging Waste Regulations encourage businesses to minimise, recover and recycle packaging waste. Other forthcoming producer responsibility initiatives include those for End of Life Vehicles and Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Holyrood Project

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer what information has been obtained in respect of Flour City International Inc. as a result of the work carried out by Shepherd and Wedderburn WS and the agent in the USA in connection with that company; whether the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) will place any such information in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre, and whether the SPCB has any information on whether Flour City International Inc. has any assets that might be attached in recovery of the losses resulting from the insolvency of Flour City Architectural (Metals) UK Ltd.

Sir David Steel: Information has been received on Flour City International Inc. as a result of the work of the SPCB’s agents. Further updated information is expected soon together with an opinion on the prospects of recovery of the additional costs being incurred by the SPCB due to the failure of Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd. The SPCB will then consider the opinion and what action might be appropriate.

  As I stated in my letter to the member of 3 October, I will write further once reports from our agents are received. As the SPCB will be considering its legal position it is not appropriate that information forming part of that consideration be placed in the Parliament’s Information Centre

Holyrood Project

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer what hourly rate or rates are charged by Shepherd and Wedderburn WS for the legal services it is providing to the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) in connection with Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Limited and Flour City International Inc.; whether there is any contract between the SPCB and Shepherd and Wedderburn WS, and whether the contract for these legal services was put out to tender.

Sir David Steel: : A tendering exercise was carried to procure outsourced legal services and contracts were agreed with three firms. The services provided by Shepherd and Wedderburn in connection with Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd and Flour City International Inc. have been at the rates quoted in the contract. It would not be appropriate to divulge the competitive rates which prevail as a further tender round is likely when the current contracts expire.

Holyrood Project

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer whether the drawings and design work supplied by Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Limited have been used without adaptation or change by the companies that have been awarded the relevant works packages in connection with the new Parliament building and whether there have been additional costs incurred by the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body in relation to any further work on these drawings and design work and, if so, what these extra costs have been.

Sir David Steel: The design work supplied by Flour City has required to be adapted since the original package has now been split into six separate trade packages. It has been estimated by the Design Team that around 95% of the drawings produced by Flour City were satisfactory or better and form the basis on which the additional design requirements are being built. Interface details generic to Flour City have been developed further, since they utilised many of their own standard details, and the additional cost for this is estimated at £117,500.

Holyrood Project

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer what the estimated cost is of the legal services provided by Shepherd and Wedderburn WS in connection with Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd and Flour City International Inc. since the last invoice of 3 April 2002.

Sir David Steel: : The estimated costs of current legal services being provided by Shepherd and Wedderburn in connection with Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd and Flour City International Inc. is £10,000 plus outlays.